Chip clusters emerge as swing regions in general elections
Suwon, Hwaseong, Icheon and a number of other cities hosting major chipmakers’ plants in Gyeonggi Province are emerging as swing regions in the upcoming April 10 general elections. Parties have been rolling out semiconductor policies and nominating influential candidates to these areas, highlighting the regions’ significance in the overall electoral landscape.
According to the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), party chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung and other party leaders will visit an SK hynix plant in Icheon on Thursday to pledge support for semiconductor policies.
The pledges are expected to include extended tax deductions for chips R&D and programs for expanding the talent pool for the semiconductor industry, the party said.
The move is part of the DPK’s efforts to maintain its control over the areas in southern Gyeonggi Province. The area is categorized as a “semiconductor belt” among Korean politicians, based on the collection of the headquarters of Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and other major chipmakers in the region.
In the previous 2020 general elections, there were 17 parliamentary seats up for grabs in the regions, 13 of which the DPK secured. Most candidates in the region clinched victories within a margin of 10 percentage points.
However, two more constituencies have been added due to the population growth. Also, the average ages of voters in those constituencies are younger than others, increasing the importance of the regions for the parties.
The ruling People Power Party (PPP) has already concentrated its efforts on the regions. The party’s interim leader Han Dong-hoon held a town hall meeting on the semiconductor industry in Suwon on Jan. 31, promising to take advantage of the PPP’s ruling party status for the progress of the semiconductor industry.
“The semiconductor industry determines the rise and fall of the country,” Han said. “As I always say, our party has the president. Our policies will be realized.”
The party has already scouted former Samsung Electronics President Koh Dong-jin for membership. Initially, Koh was anticipated to be nominated as a candidate in one of the semiconductor belt constituencies, but named as a candidate for Seoul’s Gangnam-C, Tuesday.
Instead, the PPP nominated big names for the areas.
In Suwon, the party named former National Tax Service Commissioner Kim Hyun-jun for Suwon-A, former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Bang Moon-kyu for Suwon-C and renowned forensic psychologist Lee Soo-jung for Suwon-D.
The PPP also named Jung Woosung, professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology, for Pyeongtaek-B, and Han Jeong-min, former researcher at Samsung Electronics’ memory chip department, for Hwaseong-B.
As a countermeasure, the DPK named serving lawmakers such as Reps. Kim Seung-won and Park Kwang-on for the Suwon constituencies.
The DPK also nominated former Hyundai Motor President Kong Young-woon for the Hwaseong-B constituency while naming former Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Sohn Myung-soo for Yongin-B.
The Reform Party, which is a big tent group of conservatives and liberals, is also working on the areas. Reform Party head and former PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok announced that he will run in Hwaseong-B, competing against Kong.
Reform Party floor leader Rep. Yang Hyang-ja, who is a former Samsung executive, will run in Yongin-A to compete against the PPP’s Lee Won-mo, a former presidential secretary for personnel affairs who is known to be a key aide of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
“Along with the political importance of those areas, parties are making greater efforts on the region because of the importance of the semiconductor industry to the country’s future,” a ruling bloc official said.